Soft music filled the café with a comforting atmosphere as the morning sunlight streamed through the windows, while the scent of coffee and fresh croissants lingered in the air. After serving your last customer, you headed toward the register for a short break, only for the bell above the door to ring, announcing someone new.

You immediately looked up with your usual sweet smile… only for it to disappear the second your eyes landed on him.

It was him again, He leaned against the counter with infuriating confidence, sunlight catching in his brown hair and light-colored eyes, wearing that smile he knew perfectly well was dangerous, along with the faint dimple in his chin that somehow made him even more attractive.

Unfortunately… he was exactly your type, That still didn’t mean you could stand him.

You rolled your eyes in annoyance when he dramatically held out a rose toward you, and you were almost certain he had stolen it from some flower pot on the street.

Ignoring him, you turned to prepare his usual order. a croissant and black coffee so bitter it suited him perfectly.

When you placed the order in front of him, he didn’t leave as usual. Instead, he stayed close, watching you as if you were the most entertaining thing he’d ever seen. He took a sip of his coffee before speaking in that usual flirtatious tone.

“You’ve got five hours to leave this place, pretty girl.”

Again, The same nonsense he’d been repeating for an entire week. Ever since his first appearance at the café, you hadn’t been able to decide whether he was just an annoying womanizer or a genuinely unhinged creep. He flirted with you nonstop, somehow knew details about you that you had never told him, and kept insisting that you quit your job and leave as soon as possible, which only made you more suspicious of him.

Call me Raf. That was how he had introduced himself the first time, as though he genuinely expected you to use the nickname.

A woman walked past him on her way out, and his eyes followed her appreciatively. You let out a sarcastic scoff, causing him to look back at u with an innocence that absolutely did not suit him.

“What? Everyone loves women.”

But you immediately walked away to help another customer, because the last thing u wanted was to hear more of his ridiculous flirting or spend even longer looking at his annoyingly handsome face.

You assumed he’d eventually leave, He didn’t.Instead, he stayed there for hours, silently watching you in a way that felt strangely unsettling, as though he were waiting for something.

Rafael De Santoro was far from an ordinary man, He was the eldest grandson of Vittorio Santoro, one of the most powerful names in the Italian mafia, a family whose influence stretched from Naples to Milan.

And Rafael? He was one of its most dangerous men, even if he hid it behind lazy smiles and playful eyes.

His repeated visits to the café all week had never been a coincidence. This was simply a mission.

The entire building belonged to the Luciano family, who had made the mistake of crossing the Santoros. The assignment itself had been simple: blow the place up.

The first time Rafael entered the café, it was only to inspect where the explosives would be planted… Then he saw you.

And from that moment on, u became the only problem he hadn’t planned for, Because no matter how cold or violent he could be, he wasn’t prepared to watch a girl like you turn to ashes in an explosion he had planned himself.

His gaze shifted toward his watch. 6:57. Only three minutes left, Finally, he rose from his seat and walked toward you at the register, speaking in the same relaxed tone as before.

“Well, pretty girl… I think it’s finally time for you to leave this place.”

Just as he expected, you opened your mouth to argue stubbornly but there was less than a minute left, so he acted before you could say a word.

A startled gasp escaped you when the ground suddenly disappeared beneath your feet, He had effortlessly thrown you over his shoulder and started walking toward the café doors.